Storm Hawks: Legacy
by HiveMind
Summary: Cyclonia has been dissolved and the Storm Hawks have disbanded. But when a new force threatens all of Atmos and the team is reunited, will they defeat this menace or suffer the same fate as their predecessors? -Updated!-
1. Prologue

Night had settled across the Atmos. To one using the darkness as a cover, it couldn't come fast enough as to conceal the precious package he was carrying. The figure checked it periodically, but for the time being it remained undisturbed.

There was another roar of skimmers overhead, scanning the nearby area with bright search lights. The cloaked figure almost heard their grunts of frustration from his current position as they flew by, but he would see to it that they never found him. He had to remain hidden, and hoped that his comrades would not ostracize him for breaking the ancient law of Atmos. His only solace was that the Oracle, to some degree, approved of his actions, but only because she had a minor personal connection to his current situation. Had it not been for that, she would have sided with the others.

The lights finally subsided and moved away, seemingly ending the pursuit. The figure breathed a sigh of relief. Any other time he would have made a game of it, but only this night were the stakes far too high. After a few more minutes, he shifted, bearing the package away with him. There was only one person that resided on this isolated terra, and that person was his current destination. He had long isolated himself from humanity years ago, seeking solitude and wanting nothing to do with the world's current affairs.

The figure knew the risk he was taking by even _coming_ to this elder resident. Sure, his interfering was risky enough, but nothing compared to what was about to come.

The dell that concealed him eventually gave way to a clearing, exposing the terra's only noticeable landmark—an enormous cirque that framed an equally large lake. The highest cliff of this natural formation was off to his left, and so the person headed there. He wasn't going to the summit, but only halfway; even he who was hard pressed to find the residence wouldn't have an easy time of it.

But who said he had to take the hard way there?

The old man must have retired for the evening; it took several knocks before the lights even came on. And now he stood at the door, appraising his visitor with a scornful glare that just barely hid the suppressed anger. "This had better be important. If you were anyone else..."

"I know," the cloaked figure responded contritely, "and it is important."

He gingerly placed the bundle in the senior man's arms. The expressions materialized over his face as he inspected its contents, the last settling between grim and mild shock. "And just what do you expect me to do about this? I'm not even the least bit equipped to keep a stray, and definitely not for the long term you're implying."

Under the hood, the expression of the taller man was..._solemn_, that the elder man fell silent, attempting to moderate the irritation in his tone under the weight of the now deadly glare in his visitor's eye. "This is too much..! I'm out here in the middle of nowhere and you bring me foundlings like I run an orphanage daily! Where in—"

The cloaked figure sighed, and the resident heard the edge of youth in his voice. "I'm already in trouble for doing even this much. No one in Atmos knows about this, not even Master Cyclonis herself. I'd prefer it be kept that way for as long as possible. Just do it as a favor to me, ok?"

Something in the statement settled any further protests that might have ensued, although the senior cut an well-deserved glare in the other's direction. "All of your favors extract a high price, prophet."

He winked in kind. "I knew I could count on you."

The elder merely grumbled in reply. Satisfied that all was well, his visitor made to leave when the man's gruff voice halted him.

"This is a great risk you're taking, Arygyn. My life ebbs even more each day, and what you've given me isn't going to slow it any further."

He only saw the edge of the prophet's smile in the darkness as he turned around once more, his attention solely on the present in the senior's arms. "_She_ is the life of Atmos, and she _is_ worth it. Besides, you need someone to continue your legacy, anyway."

And then he was gone in a puff of magic and the flapping of wings. The terra's only resident remained silent, watching him disappear into the night before returning his attention to the bundle in his arms. During their exchange she had awakened, and now she looked up at him with innocent curiosity, eyes unusually bright in the darkness. Glad that no one was around to see the smile that bloomed on his face, he hastened her into her new home.

* * *

Sorry for the hiatus, but given that Storm Hawks has ended and the story went in a couple of ways that I didn't anticipate, I had to review what angle I wanted to take this story in. You guys are welcome to join me for the ride.


	2. Restless

"Aerrow...!"

The man's eyes flew open. Disoriented, he scowled until the environment around him came into focus. Tranqua? Check. Supply depot? Double check.

_Lynn._

His team mate stood in front of him, arms folded, the barest trace of annoyance across her sharp features. She waited as he came around to consciousness and when she spoke, her voice was not without sympathy. "Stayed up late again, didn't you? Must have gotten your hands on some good reading material or something."

His eyes lowered, a quirk of a smile there and gone from his face so quickly she wasn't sure she'd seen it. "What's up?"

"The supplies? I need your signature on this before we can haul it off."

Nodding, Aerrow allowed himself a lazy stretch before joining her. Behind him, Radarr lounged sleepily in the seat of the sidecar. Aerrow envied him since _he_ wasn't being denied sleep. On the other hand, Radarr had been sleeping more and more lately, even when he wasn't exhausted. Aerrow tried not to think about what that could mean.

It was just one on a list of many things he tried not to think about.

He signed his name to the paper with reluctance once he'd gotten a good look at just what his secondary team was needing. Never mind that the Hawks already had a rather outstanding tab with this particular depot. He would have done better just going to Terra Sahar to trade for the part, but that would have meant giving up something equally important in return. Nothing immediately came to mind. Nothing that Stork wouldn't kill him over, anyway.

The supplies in question turned out to be a singular item, an acoustic dampener. Lynn offered nothing on why it was needed other than a vague explanation of it being wanted for an "experiment". Aerrow offered her a suspicious glare in return. Fortunately, only two vehicles were needed to haul the thing back. Unfortunately, their tab was going through the roof. And since there were hardly any rogues or dissenting nations to deal with, it was getting rather tough for any knight squadron to make a decent living. Nope, Atmos was completely at peace. The Storm Hawks had seen to that personally.

Lynn watched her team leader with some apprehension as he anchored the dampener to his skimmer. He was already in a snit when he first arrived on Tranquas, having flown all the way in from Atmosia. It probably hadn't helped that she'd called him out there either, for the very purpose that he'd just served. Throw in the fact that Stork likely denied him a ride, and no wonder Aerrow was on the surly side. He was a bit changed from the boy she'd met years ago. She wasn't sure if it was his extended stay on the Far Side or if the previous battle with Master Cyclonis was suspect. Or perhaps it was something else, like the dissolution of his own team that he refused to talk about. She gave a mental sigh. He was going to be difficult to deal with today.

It wasn't as if his team was permanently disbanded, Lynn mused as their skimmers turned over. They'd just decided to seek their own interests for a while. At least, that was the impression she was given, back when she was in training to be part of their reserve team. Lynn kept in touch with a couple of the older Hawks on occasion. Whether Aerrow kept in touch with them was a matter that she never tried to broach in conversation. Getting the answer from Radarr was another matter entirely, for his language was one she likely would never understand. Or just what kind of creature he was, either. Her best guess was that he was some kind of sky monkey, if a monkey had ears like a rabbit and sounded like a dog. As it was, the little animal was huddled in the cockpit, oblivious to her thoughts or even those of his Sky Knight friend. He slept dreamless, undisturbed sleep.

Once the skimmers were airborne, she could hardly tell they were dragging anything. The carrier ship was docked close to the edge of the terra. The Hawks' reserve team was the only squadron available for several hundred miles in any given direction; as such, it was their duty to police their assigned region of the Atmos. Not that it needed much policing anyway. If Atmos was peaceful, then Tranqua was five times that and then some. Even for this time of year, now that the seasonal storms had cleared away.

Lynn sighed as they circled the knoll. She hadn't been long into her term as leader of the second team, but at times she wondered if she would ever get a chance to actually "lead" them. There was no point in the training being wasted, especially when she was trained by the _best_ squadron in the Atmos, in her honest opinion. And yet...and yet...

The two skimmers hovered above the clearing, lowering their payload just to the rear of the ship. One of her team members had nicknamed it the Merlin, and the name stuck. Once it settled, they landed and unhooked the equipment from the chassis of their vehicles. The cargo bay of the ship was already open, a lift being steered down the ramp by a member of Lynn's team to retrieve it. That member was an impressive humanoid that was vaguely feline in appearance; grey furred with rounded, pointed ears and a compact figure of intense power. Gray-green eyes shining, he nodded to Aerrow in respectful greeting before turning his attention to his squad mate. "So you were able to get one then?"

"Just barely," Lynn murmured tensely, aware of Aerrow's glowering presence a few feet away. Ears flickering with anticipation, her team mate grinned and hopped onto the lift to remove the dampener to the ship.

"Why do you need that thing, anyway?" Aerrow queried.

Ignoring Lynn's visual consternation, the cat-like being obliged his squadron leader with a response. "I have an idea to outfit the ship with a cloaking device. One that won't require the use of so many crystals in order to maintain its effects..."

"Really..." Aerrow quirked an eyebrow in Lynn's direction. His team mate suddenly seemed interested in a smudge on her armor, and not really listening to the conversation taking place.

"...but I won't know anything until I get this baby installed." The creature's ears perked erect. "Hey, if this works, think Stork'll let me build one for the Condor?"

The squad leader smiled in a way that chilled Lynn's blood. "You'll have to ask Stork about that, Saber. Whatever goes onto that ship is his call."

Satisfied with that response, the creature named Saber steered the lift onto the ramp and disappeared into the cargo hold. Aerrow said nothing, not even after mechanical sounds erupted from inside the ship. Instead, he went back to his skimmer and began doing light maintenance: fuel and oil check, clutch and tightness, brakes. Awakened by the undue noise, Radarr assisted him, albeit a bit reluctantly since his sleep was disturbed. Lynn watched them for a moment before approaching, knowing well that she was courting her own death.

"An _experiment_," he spoke from the other side of his skimmer, his voice dripping venom, "that could practically void the warranty on the Merlin since it's an unapproved mod."

Lynn's mouth drew up in a slight pout.

"And," there was a nasty-sounding _clank_ from somewhere on the frame, "that's assuming that he's even successful, or else it's a piece of equipment gone to waste that we'll _still_ have to pay for."

"The solar panel didn't go to waste," she amended. "It made a rather nice replacement tabletop. In fact, Saber's thinking about rigging it so that it's able to power the entire kitchen—"

Seconds later, she was staring into the face of a very pissed-off Sky Knight. Lynn often forgot how fast Aerrow was. And how _tall. _And right now he was using both traits to his advantage as she stood partially covered in shadow, distantly reminding her of the teacher-student relationship that they'd had at one point and on occasion. Still, the younger Hawk held her ground despite the weight of that heavy glare.

"Why do you do this to me? No parts unless they're absolutely needed! There aren't assignments now for this team to pay off our debt."

"I know that," Lynn acknowledged grumpily. "But I have to keep my team mates happy, right? Or occupied at the very least. Besides, what else can I do? I haven't had much opportunity to lead them as I should. You won't let me."

Aerrow swallowed the retort he was planning, pressing his lips together hard. He wasn't about to admit she was right and settled for crossing his arms across his chest, glare abating into a less reproving expression. "I don't doubt your skills as a leader, but you take away my choices when you keep making decisions like this last."

There was a minute softening of his tone. Lynn glanced away, conceding she lost this battle of wills by rubbing the back of her neck. Still, it was hardly a fight since he'd given in so easily. Well, maybe not. She turned to look at him but he'd returned to tinker at his machine. Radarr, ever faithful, assisted him, but even he was gazing with concern at his longtime friend. Though he hid it well, he was tense; it was in the methodical way he tooled over the skimmer's frame, the movements tight and stiff. It could have been from the flight in, but she knew the answer was always the most obvious.

Three years was a long time to be separated from a team that had been family for most of your life. It was something she couldn't understand on his level, at least. Moving away from the gloomy thoughts, she spoke to clear the uncomfortable silence. "Admit it, Aerrow. You can't tell me you're not the least bit intrigued about Saber's project."

The Sky Knight shrugged, trying desperately to maintain a mask of indifference but he appreciated what Lynn was doing in spite of the ruse she set upon him earlier. Getting to his feet to check the clutch cable, he'd almost succeeded until she nudged him several times in arm to get him to acquiesce. With a mocking eye roll, Aerrow succumbed. "Alright, fine. I am a little curious."

Radarr chirped almost joyfully, which earned him a head scratch. Lynn breathed the tiniest sigh of relief; not only for the reprieve, but that she'd gotten Aerrow back on the side of cheerful, no matter how slight it was. She turned away to hide a grin, starting for her skimmer—

—when a distant hum encroached on her hearing, a hum that progressed steadily into a thrum, bearing toward them. Her head went up, eyebrows lifted curiously as she squinted for the source of the noise. In a few moments, she was able to determine clearly what it was.

It was a skimmer, but not just any skimmer. The fuselage was gunmetal in color, and she swore she saw flashes of purple...

_Starling?_

Her brows drew inward, curiosity turning into puzzlement. Mumbling an aside regarding the older Sky Knight's motives for suddenly appearing, Lynn half turned to Aerrow to see what he thought. One look at his face gave her all the answer she needed.

"...dammit."


	3. Dissonance

Starling was tired. Exhaustion permeated her bones down to the marrow, a fatigue so deep that it was punctuated by the throbbing engine of her skimmer. It wasn't exactly unpleasant but the situation wasn't enough to make her irritable either. It was a justifiable price to pay for hopping cruisers from one end of the Atmos to the other.

It was also one of the few times when the sky knight was forced to admit to herself that being part of a squadron came in handy.

A powerful gust of wind narrowed her eyes to slits. Starling focused her attention back to the present, to concentrate on piloting her machine. This quadrant of the Atmos was known for its unnaturally calm weather, a calm that extended to the names of the few inhabited terras that peppered the region. Of course, every so often (once every fifteen years if the local records were accurate), the area was besieged by violent storms, which made the terran names all the more ironic. It had been a stroke of luck that the last of those storms had swept out of the area several weeks before, though some of the stronger winds remained. They battered at her along with the knowledge she was bearing, that forced her into the trip in the first place. And if Starling was honest with herself, it was the real reason behind her exhaustion.

There was only one person she could absolutely trust with that knowledge. It didn't take long for her to track him down but Starling didn't precisely get the impression that he was being evasive. She opened her eyes a bit wider and found that she was approaching Tranqua—indeed, the carrier for the second squadron loomed at the west perimeter of the terra as something of a landmark. The terra itself had experienced a population bloom in the past years. Some of the peoples of Atmos had been lured there by the promise of a safe locale for child rearing and lucrative business if one was into farming. There was also the scenery, which now that the storms were gone, were bursting with colorful zeph bells. The name applied more to their unique ability to produce sound rather than their appearance. Even at her distance she could hear their faint sounds, stirred into being by the winds that swept across the verdant lands.

Starling began her descent and the Merlin increased in both distance and size. As she swept closer, two skimmers came into view and she had no doubts as to who they belonged to. The gaudy colors of the smaller machine identified it as belonging to the leader of the second squadron in addition to it being one of the newer models. The larger one, its fuselage and fairings having shown hard years of use (in spite of it being refurbished, she reflected), belonged to the sky knight she was looking for. A young woman looked up as she approached, the details slightly indistinct but Starling already knew her to be Lynn, the current acting second-in-command of the Storm Hawks. Which meant the other being who ducked out of sight had to be Aerrow himself.

Well, that was odd.

The lone sky knight dropped from the sky, her skimmer landing smoothly on two wheels. She pulled into their camp several moments later and parked her machine, exercising her limbs in a rising stretch. A brief chaffing of her limbs removed a slight layer of grime that she had accumulated during the trip, though nothing could be done for the violet windswept locks that were once tied neatly back from her angular face. Still clad in the mustard and brown leathers that she favored, her bearing was light and graceful, deceptively hiding the knowledge that the woman was at the start of her third decade. There was nothing hesitant in her movements; the singular nunchaku belted at her hip accentuated her natural swagger.

Watching her approach, Lynn's calm gaze hid the apprehension she felt upon recognizing her moments before. She was well aware of the knight's history via Piper, who had mentioned Starling among her favorite knights as a youth and always spoke of her with something bordering dangerously close to hero worship and not unlike a love between close siblings. Lynn wondered how, since part of Starling's notoriety was the fact that she was a fabled lone wolf. She and the older knight had barely conversed with each other, making her seem even more a stranger despite her long standing status with their team. It wasn't that she didn't like Starling. But there was something else about her that she declined to articulate, at least not with the woman approaching earshot...and Aerrow would never let her live it down anyway.

The fact that he still hadn't risen to greet the older knight unintentionally altered her expression to something like annoyance, and Lynn blinked to rid herself of it. "Hi, Starling."

"Hello, Lynn." Pulling up short, Starling regarded the younger Storm Hawk with an abstracted glance. She didn't know Lynn that well or for that long, since her tenure with the squadron was still quite fresh. But her appearance was largely unchanged from the last time they'd met; the young woman wore her uniform short, patched in brown and mauve with the awkward stitching that seemed to define the looks of the entire squadron. Her gloves sheathed her forearms, stopping just below the elbow; like Finn, she preferred fingerless. Lynn's hair had grown out some however, and she wore it in a pixie hairstyle, though some strands escaped to frame her face. Of even stranger note was the identical striping at both sides of her cheekbones. Starling wondered at that but wasn't curious enough to ask outright. It wasn't that she didn't like Lynn but there was something about her that she declined to speak of, at least not while she was within earshot...and especially not with that calculating gaze leveled at her.

"Come to speak with Aerrow?" Lynn knew that already but she had to say something to dispel the awkwardness that always surfaced between the two of them. "In that case, let me leave you two alone..."

Now that he had been addressed, Aerrow could no longer pretend that he hadn't noticed Starling's entrance. He rose from his crouch and Radarr abandoned his assistance, springing into the seat of the skimmer. From the look on Starling's face, he noted that she hadn't missed his behavior either. His immediate statement was not for her however. "Wait, Lynn. It can keep until Starling's had a chance to rest."

Both women turned incredulous looks upon him; Lynn's was one of genuine surprise while Starling's was a mixed cocktail of surprise, annoyance and relief at the suggestion. "I don't think my news can wait—"

Aerrow cut her off. "You're tired, Starling. I know it because I'm tired. And irritable. And still angry from earlier since my teammate talked me into buying some unneeded equipment. But if you want me to snap, then by all means, tell your news."

Her cocktailed expression sobered upon realizing that he was being completely earnest. Starling subsided with a murmured aside that only Lynn heard and Aerrow made no further effort to follow their conversation. It ended with Starling entering the carrier's cargo hold a few moments later, and Lynn rounded nastily on her team leader the moment she was out of sight. "Thanks for throwing me under the damn bus, Aerrow—"

"...and I am sorry for that," he apologized. "But I had to get her out of here...I really was going to snap at her."

Lynn's own fit of anger evaporated. "...why?"

"Because," the knight answered simply, "a mission is the only time I usually see her. Or any of us saw her, really. She doesn't want to join the squadron, but she sure doesn't have a problem utilizing our resources."

The reference to his former team mates didn't go unnoticed, but the younger Hawk let it go unremarked for the time being. Instead she quipped, "a friends-with-benefits type deal, I take it?"

Aerrow looked even more annoyed. Lynn struggled to suppress a giggle. "As much as I'm wholly in agreement with you, she wouldn't have flown all the way here for nothing...and we don't even know where she's come from yet."

His expression verged on mutinous, and Lynn smiled at last. "I'll go collect my team. You stay here. Pet Radarr or something. Just calm down."

* * *

Starling wasn't unlike other women when it came to matters of hygiene, and it was her extended stay in the facilities that Aerrow was counting on while he managed to keep his temper at bay. It also bought Lynn the time she needed to get the remainder of her squad members who were off patrolling remnant terras in the area. He was glad for it; the more experience they collected, the better. Unfortunately, it was one of the things that put him at odds with the former Interceptor. For whatever reason, she wasn't as comfortable with the reserve team as she had (barely) been with his former team. Every excuse he considered for her reasons could be presented with a sound argument that Aerrow was certain he could win. After all, he and his own team had been in the positions of the reserve team once upon a time.

He stood in the larger area of the cockpit that served as a general meeting room and eating area, arms folded with Radarr perched on his shoulder. Lynn stood several feet away as was respectfully polite, her attention for the feline humanoid that stood a full two heads taller than her at her shoulder. If Aerrow was inclined to play favorites, he conceded that behind Lynn, Saber was one of the reserve members that he respected and liked, and it was no surprise that he was Lynn's right hand. He was tempered with just the right balance of youth, initiative and patience that seemed inherent to those of his kind, and none of the malice that plagued them the rest of the time. That he was loyal to his second-in-command only raised Aerrow's admiration of him. How they met was still a mystery yet to be disclosed to him but for now it didn't matter; Saber had the team's best interests at heart and that was what mattered. Even if they tended to be _very_ expensive interests.

Like Lynn herself, two other members of the squadron had also come from that same Talon recruit school that the Storm Hawks had shut down years ago. They were fraternal twins, brother and sister, just a year or two younger than their own squad leader. The sister sat at the table, her attention constantly distracted by her brother who sprawled next to her in contrast to her own straight-backed stance. Iris was the team's navigator and crystal specialist, not quite experienced enough to be dubbed a mage. Jayce shared ballistics duties with Saber...and none of the lifting. Aerrow hid a laugh at the thought. He was also a decent shot, though the real marksman of the team was none other than Riko, who like the others remained standing in unconscious mimicry of the senior team leader. He was the eldest of this squad, his gaze abstracted which made one think that he was never paying attention. Aerrow knew otherwise. Riko never missed a thing. Never.

Starling finally appeared from the facilities, tying her locks back into a ponytail as she made her entrance. Even at his distance Aerrow could smell the faint scent of herbal flowers, though both Saber and Radarr wrinkled their noses at the proximity of the smell. Radarr actually buried his face into Aerrow's neck and the knight gave him a quick rub in sympathy.

Having noted the reactions of the two beasts, Starling did not take offense. Instead she took time to survey her audience. What she thought would have been just three was suddenly seven. Lynn had assembled her entire team, all of whom had given her their polite attention the moment she entered.

"Thank you for seeing me on such short notice," she began, pleased that none of her dismay was heard in her voice. "But I only need Aerrow for an investigative mission."

Radarr whined from his post around Aerrow's neck. Aerrow's face was emotionless, but he turned to Lynn for her input. Her return gaze was full of resignation. "I'm not surprised. The smaller the team, the better, right?"

"As small as necessary," Starling replied. "Recon, nothing more."

_So you say,_ Lynn thought. Glancing at up at her own leader, she saw he was thinking similarly. She focused her teal gaze on the Interceptor, the gaze shrewd but not unkind. "Where? I'd like to know in case, Atmos forbid, something happens to the two of you."

"Terra Caligula."

Aerrow winced. Terra Caligula was in the same region as Terra Tropica and not far from the scar of Atmos, better known as The Great Expanse. The people there were deeply rooted in superstitious and archaic religious beliefs despite it being another popular resort terra. It was also home to the squadron known as the Throttle Bombers.

It didn't take a Bogaton scientist to figure out the implications of this.

"Aerrow...?"

"I'll go," he replied, leaving his internal musings. Lynn tilted her head curiously when he looked directly at her. "But I want you and your team to fly us to Atmosia."

Eyes widened all around. Even Riko's expression shifted from its normal stoicism. "You mean we're going on a field trip?" Jayce quipped. "Let me go pack my things."

Iris booted him under the table in gentle rebuke, but judging from the looks on her teammates' faces, they all were thinking it. Her brother just had the temerity to say so out loud. Again, that dismayed look from Starling. Wisely she chose not to comment and neither did Aerrow. Hurrying, he continued, "It's as you say. If something happens to us, then someone needs to know where to search...and if we need immediate help, then you won't be halfway across the world _should_ we call for it."

Lynn stared at him for a few moments. Then with resolve, she turned to the feline humanoid standing next to her. "Guess your project will have to wait for now. Get the Merlin ready to fly."

Saber nodded. Jayce and Iris were already on their feet, and they disappeared along with Riko. Watching them, Aerrow was aware of a vague sense of pride...and a distinct sense of loss. He finally turned his attention to Starling who stood watching the activity with disappointment that was only slightly moderated by interest. The Hawk knight grinned, thinking that he'd tortured her enough. "Starling, you can come with me. The director of Tranqua needs to know that the squadron is leaving."

The former Interceptor said nothing as she made her way over to Aerrow, but the narrowed gaze she turned on him spoke of her mood in volumes. He sighed. It was going to be a _long_ trip...


End file.
